It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Thursday, June 20, 2024
Seven held after Paris protest against arms company linked to Israel
Reporter remains in custody after refusing to give police access to her phone, says her employer
Seven people have been arrested over a protest at the headquarters of Exxelia in Paris
Seven people including a journalist remained in custody in Paris on Wednesday, 24 hours after their arrest for participating in a protest at the offices of a company that makes chips for drones sold to Israel, according to the prosecutor's office.
The arrests were confirmed after French media organisation Blast said on X that one of its journalists had been detained while she was covering the protest at the headquarters of weapons company Exxelia.
The prosecutor's office told AFP that the people were detained for “joining a group with the aim of committing voluntary damage … after entering the site of company Exxelia”.
The reporter, who has not been named, had not been released because she refused to give police access to her phone, said Blast. It is understood that the six other people also remain in detention.
NGO Reporters Without Borders asked for the reporter's immediate release and warned that her sources could be compromised.
The journalist had been working for weeks on an investigative piece on French weapons sales to Israel, which have attracted renewed interest since the start of Israel's military offensive against Gaza in October.
NGOs in a number of European countries have in recent months sued their governments in a bid to halt such sales. In France, 11 NGOS filed three separate cases in front of a Paris court. They were all rejected.
France is one of Israel's weapons providers, though not among the most important. In 2022, it delivered just over €15 million in armaments, according to Amnesty France.
Exxelia has been under investigation since 2018 for complicity in war crimes after the family of three children killed in July 2014 in an Israeli missile attack in Gaza filed a complaint at a Paris court.
Analysis of missile debris found in the house where they died showed it included components made by French company Eurofarad – which was bought in 2015 by Exxelia Technologies – and sold to Israeli company Rafael.
Similar protests against weapons manufacturers that have Israeli clients have taken place across Europe. Footage of protesters from Palestine Action damaging equipment in south-east England was released on Tuesday.
The demonstrators, who wore orange jumpsuits, were shown in the video dismantling three fences to enter the Instro Precision site in the town of Sandwich. They then crawled in through a smashed window and threw stock to the ground and smashed computers with a crowbar.
Palestine Action says Instro Precision is owned by Elbit, one of Israel's largest defence contractors, and produces military-grade electro-optical equipment at the site.
Seven people were arrested and an investigation is under way, Kent Police said in a statement.
Updated: June 19, 2024, 3:27 AM
MT MERAPI ON JAVA ISLAND EMITS LAVA, PYROCLASTIC FLOWS, REACHING 1.5 KM
19/06/2024
JAKARTA, June 19 (Bernama) -- Mount Merapi, an active volcano in Central Java and Yogyakarta, has recently emitted lava and pyroclastic flows that reached distances of up to 1.5 kilometres from its summit.
These flows are moving towards upstream rivers nearby, prompting urgent warnings from authorities for residents to avoid the danger zones.
The Yogyakarta Geological Disaster Technology Research and Development Centre (BPPTKG) reported that on Tuesday at 8.55 pm, the flows were observed heading towards the Bebeng River.
"The volcano emitted weakly pressurised white smoke, reaching heights of 25 to 50 metres above the crater," said the BPPTKG.
In its latest report on Wednesday, it stated that there was one pyroclastic flow and 11 lava flows, all directed southwest with a maximum runout distance of 1.5 kilometres.
Current potential hazards include lava and pyroclastic flows in the southwest and southeast sectors, reaching distances between three and seven kilometres towards several nearby rivers.
"Volcanic material projection in the event of an explosive eruption could reach a radius of three kilometres from the summit," the BPPTKG noted, adding that ongoing magma supply could trigger lava and pyroclastic flows within the hazard zone.
Authorities advise vigilance, citing the Alert Level III status since November 2020, and urge preparedness for disruptions from volcanic ash.
-- BERNAMA
Systematic terror, brutal atrocities rife in Myanmar: UN human rights chief
18 June 2024
The UN’s top human rights official said on Tuesday that Myanmar is in “agonizing pain”, suffocated by an illegitimate military regime which uses “horrific war tactics” and commits brutal atrocity crimes.
He added that the same dynamics are playing out against the minority Muslim Rohingya and other communities in Rakhine province.
“We are hearing stories of horrific war tactics, such as beheadings. Midnight drone attacks. The burning of homes as people sleep. People being shot at as they flee for their lives.”
Furthermore, fierce fighting has been reported between junta forces, and ethnic armed groups and those opposed to the coup, forcing thousands to flee their homes and worsening humanitarian crisis across the country.
“The military has lost control over a considerable amount of territory. So, it is resorting to increasingly extreme measures. Forced conscription. Indiscriminate bombardment of towns and villages. Brutal atrocity crimes,” Mr. Türk said.
The UN human rights office (OHCHROpens in new window) is investigating several reported attacks against civilians in Rakhine and Sagaing over recent days with large numbers of civilians allegedly killed.
‘Shocking memories’
Mr. Türk also highlighted the dire situation in Rakhine’s Maungdaw town, with the Arakan Army warning residents, including many Rohingya, to evacuate.
“But Rohingya have no options. There is nowhere to flee,” he said, noting that in Buthidaung, a similar pattern of displacement and destruction has occurred.
The military also ordered ethnic Rakhine villages near provincial capital Sittwe to be vacated, conducting mass arrests. In the village of Byaing Phyu, men were separated, tortured, and killed, with women also raped and murdered.
The military also pressured and threatened young Rohingya men to join their ranks, Mr. Türk added, referring to reports that indicate that thousands of Rohingya youth have been conscripted into the same army that killed and displaced hundreds of thousands of their community in 2016 and 2017.
High Commissioner Türk informed the Human Rights Council, the UN’s highest body on human rights, of his visit to southeast Asia and meetings with key stakeholders, notably Myanmar’s civil society and its young people.
“These young people have strong expectations of the international community. They seek for the extent of Myanmar’s suffering to be genuinely acknowledged and given the attention it deserves,” he said.
He highlighted their efforts and those of groups within the country against decades of oppression and violence. New local governance structures have emerged, aiding hundreds of thousands of civilians in need and delivering vital protection services in the complete absence of a functioning public system.
“They have risked their lives and livelihoods to help communities in need and resist the repression by the military. And with them, a future is possible.”
Supporters of Myanmar's jailed leader Suu Kyi mark her 79th birthday with a flower-themed protest
Supporters of Myanmar’s imprisoned ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi have carried out peaceful flower-themed protests marking her 79th birthday
ByGRANT PECK
Associated Press June 19, 2024,
BANGKOK -- Supporters of Myanmar’s imprisoned ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi carried out peaceful flower-themed protests marking her 79th birthday on Wednesday, some taking to the streets in defiance of the military government’s repression.
Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace prize winner who led a decades-long struggle against military rule, was detained on Feb. 1, 2021, when the army seized power from her elected government. She is serving a 27-year prison term on what are widely regarded as charges that were contrived to keep her from political activity.
She is one of more than 20,600 people currently detaine d for opposing military rule, according to the independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which documents arrests.
Pro-democracy street protests in Suu Kyi’s honor were held openly Wednesday in parts of the country not under the control of the army, including in Sagaing and Magway regions in central Myanmar, and Tanintharyi in the south, as well as in Kachin state in the north.
Images on social media showed protesters carrying Suu Kyi’s picture and banners reading “Happy Birthday, Steel Rose” and “The steel roses will retaliate against the junta’s oppression without yielding,” referencing one of their hero’s nicknames and adopting the sobriquet for themselves.
Pro-democracy guerrillas in remote areas not under army control also celebrated her birthday.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army’s 2021 takeover, which led to nationwide peaceful protests that escalated into armed resistance and what now amounts to a civil war.
However, nonviolent protests continue to be popular, both online and on the ground. They are often coordinated around themes, such as a flower strike.
One common practice is to post online self-portraits along with symbols of the strike or of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, but with faces obscured to prevent identification by the authorities.
In the southern region of Tanintharyi, hundreds of demonstrators in Dawei district displayed Suu Kyi’s famous slogan “The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear.”
Min Lwin Oo, a leader of the Democracy Movement Strike Committee (Dawei), told The Associated Press that the quote was supposed to inspire people to have courage and no fear in carrying out revolution against military dictatorship.
Young people held more discreet protests in the big cities of Yangon and Mandalay, where it's not unusual for security forces to use force to break up demonstrations and make arrests.
Eleven Media, a news outlet that maintains good relations with the military government, reported that 22 people in Mandalay were arrested for alleged involvement in the flower strike.
Tayzar San, a prominent leader of the opposition’s General Strike Coordination Body that organized the strike, said that people’s participation proved that even after three years under oppressive military rule, the revolutionary spirit couldn't be quelled.
Kim Aris, Suu Kyi’s younger son living in London, had urged people to celebrate his mother’s birthday by supporting humanitarian aid campaigns.
“Currently, people who love her want to give her flowers and cakes as birthday presents, but she is in a situation where she is not allowed to accept it,” he said in a statement posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
Consequently, her admirers should do as much as they can to help with humanitarian aid, he said.
“I think this will be my mother’s most desired birthday present,” Aris said.
The United Nations has estimated that at least 3 million people in Myanmar have been made homeless by conflict in the last three years and are in desperate need of assistance.
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, which the military government declared dissolved last year, released a statement on Wednesday on its Facebook page calling for the release of all the detained political prisoners including Suu Kyi.
Several Western embassies posted pictures of roses and jasmine on their social media pages, with some also issuing statements calling for her and all political prisoners to be released.
Myanmar’s junta takes desperate measures to stem capital flight
The hard-hit middle class is searching for a place to park what’s left of their assets after three years of war.
A commentary by Zachary Abuza 2024.06.16
Illustration by Amanda Weisbrod/RFA
The rumors were everywhere: A politically connected crony, U Thein Wai, better known as Serge Pun, was called in for questioning.
While he was not arrested, the military’s questioning of the CEO of Yoma Bank and eight directors of other subsidiaries under his control is another indicator of just how dire Myanmar’s economic situation is.
The 71-year old Sino-Burmese tycoon sits atop a massive business empire of some 50 different interrelated companies. The most important of these are First Myanmar Investment Company (FMI), Serge Pun and Associates (SPA), and, of course, Yoma Bank.
While largely invested in real estate through Yoma Land, SPA is one of the largest conglomerates in the country, with investments in real estate, construction, banking and financial services, Suzuki automobile assembly, the KFC franchise and healthcare.
Yoma Bank is one of the largest private banks in Myanmar and has been in important overseas conduit, especially after the US government sanctioned two state banks in June 2023.
Yoma Bank has ties to the military, lending to both the military-owned Mytel and Pinnacle Asia, which is owned by Min Aung Hlaing’s daughter, Khin Thiri Thet Mon.
Yoma Bank CEO U Thein Wai, also known as Serge Pun, smiles as electronic trading commences during the opening day of trading at Yangon Stock Exchange, March 25, 2016. (Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP)
In November 2022, the State Administrative Council, as the junta is formally called, bestowed on him the honorific Thiri Pyanchi, granted for outstanding performance.
Pun’s ties to the military are deep enough that the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation divested their 4.55% equity stake in Yoma Bank in December 2022, selling it to FMI.
This is not to say that Pun has been completely pro-military. Compared to other cronies, he’s been much less so. He’s hedged his bets and incorporated holdings in Singapore and Hong Kong. Arguably he would be a lot wealthier were it not for the coup, but he’s worked within the reality of the coup.
So what prompted the Office of the Chief of Military Security Affairs, the feared military intelligence service, to come calling?
In short, facilitating capital flight.
Real estate roadshow
In late May, a group of five executives of a real estate firm, Minn Thu Co., held an unauthorized roadshow, selling Bangkok condominiums. Minn Thu had allegedly established unauthorized bank accounts in Thailand to facilitate the sales.
Thai real estate is being pitched to Burmese as a safe investment at a time when the kyat has fallen to a record low of over 5,000 kyat per dollar, while soaring inflation eats into the currency’s purchasing power.
Gold has reached record rates: 5.8 million kyat per tical (15.2 grams, .54 oz) – 4.5 times the pre-coup rate of 1.3 million kyat. Over 20 gold dealers have been arrested recently, accused of engaging in speculation.
The beleaguered middle class is desperately searching for a place to park what’s left of their assets after more than three years of conflict.
Four of the five businessmen who staged the roadshow have been arrested, and one other executive is at large.
A customer waits to withdraw money at Yoma Bank in Yangon, June 17, 2013. (Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)
To serve as a deterrent to others, the junta arrested three people who purchased the condos, having illegally transferred assets overseas.
Yoma Bank is believed to have assisted in financing the purchases by transferring assets to Bangkok in violation of the junta’s currency controls.
Military intelligence officials are also investigating whether Yoma Bank is offering what are de facto mortgages for overseas real estate, as an investment vehicle, in contravention of Myanmar law.
In recent days, the junta has expanded their investigation into over 100,000 private bank transfers.
Capital flight began immediately after the coup. Radio Free Asia reported the purchase of THB2.5 billion (US$69 million) and THB 3.7 billion (US$100 million) in Thai real estate in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
In the first quarter of 2024, Burmese were the second largest group of foreign nationals to invest in Thai real estate, according to the Bangkok Post, having purchased at least 384 units, worth THB2.2 billion ($60 million).
Estimates, though, are far higher, as many properties are believed to have been purchased using Thai nominees.
Focus on funds
And of course, the revelation that junta leader Min Aung Hlaing’s own children have moved their own assets to Thailand was a huge embarrassment for the regime. Aung Pyae Sone owns a condominium worth around $1 million in Bangkok, while Khin Thiri Thet Mon has two accounts at Siam Commercial Bank.
Reports are emerging that Khin Sri Thet Mon purchased a condo in the ultra swank SCOPE Langsuan, which was completed in May 2023, and where a three bedroom unit sells for $4.2 million to over $15 million.
The SAC has deployed uniformed personnel to both public and private banks since mid-2021 to block transfers to the civil disobedience movement, the National Unity Government, and ethnic resistance organizations. But soon after that, they also began monitoring capital flight.
The junta is increasingly cracking down on the informal banking sector, known as hundi, that is used by at least 40 percent of overseas workers.
In early June, the regime froze the accounts of 39 additional hundi dealers, following the crackdown on 20 others in January.
The hundi system keeps desperately needed foreign exchange out of the formal banking system, where people and companies are forced to convert it to kyat at artificially low exchange rates.
Given the state of the economy, capital flight is the rational choice for Burmese with the means..
Myanmar junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing and his wife, Kyu Kyu Hla, visit a Buddhist monastery in Thailand in February 2018. (Myanmar military)
The World Bank has reported on the dire state of the economy, which has shrunk by nearly 20% since the coup. The poverty rate is now 32%, while 2024 GDP growth estimates have been halved to 1%.
The NUG estimates that the junta has printed 30 trillion kyat (US$11.5 billion) since the coup, a leading – though not the only – cause of inflation, which is now at 30%. The kyat has lost 22% of its value.
Public debt is soaring. Currently at 63% of GDP, compared to 42% under the ousted Aung San Su Kyi government, and it is expected to worsen as revenue collection is collapsing.
A recent report by the Special Advisory Council-Myanmar shows that only one of 51 townships that have border crossings is under stable junta control, with four more under their proxy militias, which has led to a loss of significant amounts of customs duties.
Pinching trade
More importantly, the junta has restricted the volume of trade that can be transacted in local currencies. The World Bank reported that exports fell by 13% and imports by 20% in the first six months of 2024, but that cross border exports, except for gas, fell by 44%, while imports fell by 71%.
Military losses have forced the Ministry of Oil and Gas Enterprise to abandon two oil fields. Oil and gas production generates some $1.5 billion, half of the regime’s foreign exchange earnings.
Meanwhile, attempts to increase the number of tourists have largely faltered.
A vendor sells food from her stall during an electricity blackout in Yangon on April 26, 2024. (Sai Aung Main/AFP)
The junta has burnt through its foreign exchange reserves to support its war effort.
At the time of the coup, those reserves stood at $6.8 billion. Immediately after the coup, the United States government froze $1.1 billion. The NUG estimates reserves to be just over $3 billion, further imperiling any hope of macroeconomic stability.
The dire state of the economy comes as the military needs additional resources to build up their arsenal, induct 5,000 conscripts a month, and recruit demobilized soldiers, in order to resume the offensives in the next dry season.
Lacking an economy to support a sustained conflict, the junta appears set to match its desperate crackdown on tycoons with drastic steps to dramatically turn the military tide.
Under the Tatmadaw doctrine, this means intensified targeting of civilians.
Zachary Abuza is a professor at the National War College in Washington and an adjunct at Georgetown University. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of the U.S. Department of Defense, the National War College, Georgetown University or Radio Free Asia.
Arakan Army treatment of Rohingya minority poses challenge to Myanmar opposition
The Rakhine force, the most effective rebel army fighting the junta, vents its grievances on the battlefield.
A commentary by Zachary Abuza 2024.06.08
Illustration by Amanda Weisbrod/RFA; Images by Adobe Stock
Evidence of Arakan Army culpability in mass arson attacks on Rohingya homes in western Myanmar's Buthidaung township – where satellite imagery has confirmed that more than 400 homes were burnt to the ground – poses a serious challenge to the anti-junta opposition.
While such attacks have ceased since the Arakan Army captured the majority Rohingya town, the rebels' double-speak both weakens the prospects of an inclusive federal democracy, and is very shortsighted for the ethnic army’s leadership.
As it is said, the truth is the first casualty in war, and so far here’s what we know happened: On May 18, the Arakan Army captured the last remaining four light infantry battalions and two border guard police camps in Buthidaung, following a multi-month siege. Immediately, over 400 homes in Rohingya residential neighborhoods were set ablaze.
There is a chance of course that some of the fires were set by the retreating junta military, who had waged a genocidal campaign against the Rohingya in 2017-18. The military seems determined to stoke inter-communal tensions as it retreats from northern Rakhine state, and “false flag” operations are part of the military’s modus operandi.
In a bizarre irony, the army has been conscripting Rohingya men into its depleted ranks to fight the Arakan Army, while at the same time, relying on radical groups, such as the Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO) and the Arakan Rohingya Solidarity Army (ARSA), operating in the refugee camps in Bangladesh to recruit fighters.
Despite the military’s own culpability in ethnic cleansing, they are trying to paint themselves as defenders of the Rohingya community, as the Arakan Army settles old scores. If the Arakan Army continues such attacks, they are making an alliance between the military and radical Rohingya groups including ARSA and the RSO, inevitable.
Flames from burning homes in Buthidaung in Rakhine state, are seen above the treetops in this image provided by a Rohingya refugee, May 17, 2024. (Image from video via AP)
While this is not surprising, it is exceptionally short-sighted in its thinking and undermines the effort to defeat Myanmar’s military and establish a federal democracy.
This should not come as a surprise. The Arakan Army’s position on the Rohingya has been two faced. Its leader, Tun Mrat Naing, has a decade-long track record of referring to them as “Bengalis”, parroting the Myanmar military’s own term for the Rohingya.
The arson attacks have also increased tensions between the Arakan Army leadership and the National Unity Government (NUG).
Following the military coup in February 2021, the Arakan Army made a very important, if not surprising, statement in support of the NUG position that the Rohingya were a persecuted minority who were entitled to full citizenship, and that the one million refugees in Bangladesh should be repatriated.
More intransigent after military gains
But with military gains since the Three Brotherhood Alliance launched its offensive on October 27, 2023, the Arakan Army has become far more intransigent. Its leadership has signaled this change to their constituents, whether in social media or simply by greenlighting attacks by local units.
The Arakan Army’s military gains are significant. They now claim to have seized 180 military camps and taken full control of eight of Rakhine’s 17 townships. While they have not moved on the state capital of Sittwe or the Chinese special economic zone in Kyaukphyu, they are controlling the roads in and out of them.
Should the Arakan Army complete their capture of Maungdaw, they will have driven the military out of the entire northern region of Rakhine.
While the ethnic Rakhine army has stated their intention to liberate the entire state, for now they are trying to control the three main entry points into the northern part of the state in order to consolidate their power.
The military has scant deployments in southern Rakhine, meaning that the Arakan Army’s takeover of the entire state is not unthinkable.
Arakan Army troops pose in Buthidaung, Myanmar, in an image posted to social media May 18, 2024. (AA Info Desk via VKontakte)
The Arakan Army has proven itself to be amongst the most effective fighting forces among the ethnic armed organizations. Their battlefield advances have spread the military thin and not allowed the junta to redeploy troops to Kachin, Kayah or northern Shan states, where regime forces have suffered serious setbacks.
Likewise, in eastern Myanmar, though opposition forces had to give up the border town of Myawaddy, the military has not been able to regain full control of the key Asia Highway.
In short, military success has given the Arakan Army the opportunity to advance their short-term and parochial political interests at the expense of the national agenda to defeat the military.
The Arakan Army’s stated commitments to the anti junta opposition’s long-term political goals, as stated by the NUG, should always be taken with a grain of salt.
They are the only ethnic army that has flirted with independence, and their authoritarian leanings show they are hostile to democracy and any political system that would force them to share power.
Prejudice with huge implications
The United League of Arakan, the AA’s political arm, issued a statement on May 20 that denied any culpability for the Rohingya village torchings, apportioning the blame solely on the military. Its statements since then have been largely dismissive and continue to deny the attacks, while criticizing media reporting on civilian casualties.
But evidence of their culpability is mounting, underscoring the reality that the Arakan Army does not like the Rohingya population, nor does it want to see large-scale resettlement from Bangladesh. The Arakan Army’s politics capitalize on Rakhine Buddhist prejudice against the Muslim community.
The Arakan Army leadership is under intense pressure to renounce any violence towards the Rohingya. But the reality is that many of their troops were involved in the communal violence against them. This is simply a return to their default setting.
The Arakan Army’s position has larger implications.
While they might have moved on from the 2017 ethnic cleansing, the international community, including the United States, has not. Earmarked in the recent $121 million in U.S. support for Myanmar, are still funds to support the quest for accountability for abuses against Rohingya.
The continued persecution of the Rohingya will undermine future international aid and support for Myanmar’s opposition in general, and cyclone-ravaged Rakhine in particular.
What is so frustrating is that Arakan Army chief Tun Mrat Naing is arguably the most charismatic and competent of the ethnic army leaders in Myanmar.
Major General Tun Myat Naing, right, commander-in-chief of the Arakan Army, attends a dinner commemorating peace-building efforts, in Pangkham in Myanmar's eastern Shan state, April 16, 2019. (RFA)
Were he to better coordinate his efforts with the NUG and wholeheartedly endorse their political aims, he would be a commanding figure in a post-conflict Myanmar.
His parochialism augers poorly for a post-conflict Myanmar and puts the NUG in a very awkward position.
The NUG’s statement in response to the mid-May arson attacks was exceedingly diplomatic, never referencing the Arakan Army and largely pinning the blame on the junta military for stoking communal violence.
But behind the scenes the frustration is clearly mounting.
With such heavy strategic implications to this sectarianism, the Arakan Army has to get its priorities straight and prove themselves as responsible stakeholders.
Zachary Abuza is a professor at the National War College in Washington and an adjunct at Georgetown University. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of the U.S. Department of Defense, the National War College, Georgetown University or Radio Free Asia.
A lack of global norms leaves Uganda’s government able to manipulate social media
Solomon Winyi June 19th, 2024
LSE
Uganda is facing many of the same challenges with social media as other countries. But, as Solomon Winyi writes, the lack of globally accepted regulations has left a path for an authoritarian regime to stifle the public sphere.
The global proliferation of social media has led to a quest for legal standards and norms for internet governance. In its own attempt to govern this space, Uganda has gradually instituted laws, occasionally shut down the internet and levied taxes to regulate social media use. Initially, these practices were introduced ostensively to limit the negative consequences of social media use, such as hate speech, incitement, and misinformation. However, the regime in Kampala has since used this pretext to curtail collective voices, dissent, and the freedom of expression that social media brings into the political sphere.
Social media use and regulation
X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and WhatsApp are the most popular social media platforms in Ugandan politics. In 2011, the platforms acted as venues for free expression around the world, helping to spark the Arab Spring, a series of public uprisings and rebellions against authoritarian regimes. Similar protests shook the Ugandan regime, which has been in power for more than 30 years. Because of the protests, the government introduced The Computer Misuse Act of 2011 (CMA) and the Social Media Tax in 2018.
The dilemma of laxity and conformity to international norms
Regulation of social media was initially delegated to engineering and technological groups but later assumed by international organisations and government agencies.
There have been divergent opinions between ‘founder’ countries (such as the US) and countries like Uganda that have adopted the social media platforms. The US and Europe have advocated for established principles and standards, such as free expression and privacy which do not fit the authoritarian ideals of regimes such as that in Uganda. On the other side, Russia and China believe and support internet sovereignty that perfectly fits Uganda’s autocratic needs and its quest for international legitimacy.
Social media regulation remains a contested space of geopolitical competition and between companies and national governments. Some supporters of Uganda’s President Museveni in the 2021 general elections were also suspended by Facebook, citing manipulation of the public debate ahead of the election in the same year.
The tensions between governments and private technology companies have created a dilemma about available tools for regulation in both private and government law. These suspensions by private companies have ignited debates on freedom of expression among world leaders. At the same time, people in autocratic states where platforms are also limited or controlled by the government want freedom of speech.
Uganda has many of the signs of an autocratic regime and is sometimes called a dictatorship. The practice of dictatorships interfering in communication is not new; some classic work on authoritarian rule highlights the role of autocrats in controlling public and private information. President Museveni has, therefore, found solace in countries such as Russia and China that have given him the confidence to restrict social media use when he detects political dissent and mobilisation.
Internationally, there are ambiguous debates worldwide about the appropriate timing for rightfully restricting or shutting down the internet. Even in places where freedom of speech is highly valued and not controlled, shutdowns are used to address political uprisings. For instance, in the US there have been instances where mobile services have been cut for hours to avert anticipated protests. Such scenarios give confidence and justification to autocratic leaders worldwide to put in place well-tailored regulations and policies to control political action in disguise of national security.
The Ugandan regime has achieved its objective of not only controlling political dissent and activism but also surveillance and control of the social media platforms at large. Social media companies have exercised excessive control over social media use, creating a rift among the states that has led to questioning the principle of freedom of expression and who decides its form and practice as an international norm. Therefore, the lack of standardised rules and norms on social media has created a dilemma for developing countries as well as an opportunity for authoritarian states to use regulations to serve their interests.
Photo credit: Pexels
About the author Solomon Winyi Dr. Solomon Winyi lectures in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Makerere University in Uganda. His PhD research was on Social Media Use and Youth Political Participation in Uganda from Makerere University.
UN Committee On Migrant Workers Publishes Findings On Congo, Senegal And Türkiye
The UN Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW) today issued its findings on the Republic of the Congo, Senegal and Türkiye.
The findings contain the Committee’s main concerns and recommendations on the implementation of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, as well as positive aspects. Key highlights include:
Congo The Committee commended the several measures taken by Congo to combat trafficking in persons and exploitationand to improve birth registration. It, however, was concerned about the lack of detailed information and statistics on many migration-related issues.It recommended that the State party establish a system to collect data on the situation of migrant workers and their families, particularly those in an irregular situation, and provide publicly available statistics on foreign migrant workers, migrant workers in transit, nationals working abroad and their employment conditions, to effectively promote human rights-based migration policies.
The Committee also remained concerned about the information received on child labour in the informal sector and the fact that children often work in dangerous conditions.The Committee called for a national plan to reduce and eliminate child labour. It asked Congo to provide necessary assistance, including psychosocial rehabilitation, to migrant workers, especially children, who have been victims of labour exploitation, increase unannounced and spontaneous labour inspections, especially in the informal sector, as well as to prosecute and punish those exploiting migrant workers, in particular children.
Senegal The Committee welcomed Senegal’s adoption of legislation and strategies to combat trafficking in persons and irregular migration. It, however, regretted the lack of a comprehensive plan on migration, a lack of a national coordination mechanism, and the shortcomings in processing disaggregated data about migrant workers. The Committee recommended the adoption of a comprehensive strategy on migration and a centralized system to collect data on migrant workers and their families, particularly those in irregular situations, in cooperation with the African Union Migration Observatory.
The Committee expressed its concern about the alleged exploitation of “talibé/koranic students” children, particularly those from neighbouring countries such as Guinea, Mali, Gambia and Guinea-Bissau, and the failure to reintegrate them into their families of origin. It also raised its concern over economic exploitation, particularly of migrant domestic workers and of children in gold mines. The Committee reiterated its previous recommendations to scale up the fight against this worrying phenomenon and ensure the perpetrators of forced labour and exploitation, especially children, are held accountable.
Türkiye The Committee recognized Türkiye’s efforts in safeguarding the rights of migrant workers and their families, including as one of the world’s largest refugee-hosting countries. It, however, noted with concerns the continued reports of arbitrary detention and the detention of children, people with disabilities and others in vulnerable situations. It called on the State party to effectively implement alternatives to administrative detention, ensure that measures are taken to prevent arbitrary and unlawful detention, and cease migration-related detention of migrant workers and their families who are in vulnerable situations, in law and in practice.
The Committee also voiced its concern about information received on the large scale of expulsion of migrants, in addition to reports of involuntary returns. It called on the State party to uphold the principle of non-refoulement and the prohibition of collective and arbitrary expulsion by thoroughly evaluating each case individually and by transparently investigating allegations of coercion.
The above findings, officially known as Concluding Observations, are now available on the session page.
